Quick Chicken Rice Pilaf Recipe

A grain, such as rice or cracked wheat, browned in oil and cooked in a seasoned broth. Oh that sounds good. Pilaf, an English term borrowed directly from Turkish but ultimately derived from Classical Persian پلو, which is pronounced [pa’lau], finds its first literary reference with Alexander the Great (356-323 BC). With just a hint of Indian spices this quick and tasty 1-pot meal made with chunked pieces of chicken and your favorite veggies made a great dish for us. We were creative with the veggies and our opinion is use whatcha’ got.

We always like to have our veggies chopped and cut first, that way they are ready to go and don’t interfere with meat preparation or timing when things are hot.

Chicken rice pilaf ingredients

As mentioned above we used what we had fresh in the fridge: Broccoli, mushrooms, carrots. Frozen mixed veggies such as peas, corn, and carrots would be a fast substitute if you are pressed for time.

Chop 'em if you got 'em

Your next goal is to lightly brown the chicken. Start by heating a little bit of oil in your pressure cooker pot on medium heat. Throw ’em in the pot (OK maybe place them gently) and and flip after a minute or two until both side are yes, golden brown. The real cooking gets done under pressure. Take the out and cut them into bite sized chunks. While cutting the chicken add the onions into the pot and cook them until a little brown and softened (about 2 to 3 minutes).

That's the stuff!

Add the rice to the onions, stirring until the rice is coated with the little bit of oil that is cooking the onions. Hear These Onions Sizzle!

Add in the rest

Add in the rest of the ingredients: frozen or fresh vegetables, cut chicken pieces, broth, cinnamon stick, curry powder, bay leaf, and 1 and 1/2 cups of water. Stir it all around.

Lock the pressure cooker lid into place and bring the stove to high heat. Heat until the pressure cooker reaches 15 psi indicated by steady steam.

The pressure cooker indicated 15psi by releasing a small steady amount of steam.

After reaching pressure and turning the heat down to medium/low (just enough to maintain that pressure or level of steam rocking), cook for 5 minutes

Carefully open the lid after the safety lock has dropped back down (don’t worry, you won’t be able to open it until the pressure has equalized, there will be some steam though).

Thanks for reading.

"I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate." ~Julia Child

Why learn pressure cooking?
It's 7 pm. The end of the work day stomach rumbles...

In one hand, a take out menu. In the other hand, the refrigerator door...its contents staring back almost as blankly as we are towards them. We want a homemade meal, but also want something quick and simple to make.
1. Simple and quick recipes requiring basic skills to become proficient in the kitchen.
2. Quality ingredients, not necessarily 100% organic, but meals without artificials and chemistry class additives.
3. To understand more of the story of our food and take small steps towards self-reliance.
It's true, there are many benefits to pressure cooking: the time savings, the taste, a small step towards self-reliance, sustainability... but the real benefit is in what we learn as we redefine our relationship with food. Good food can be fast. Good food can be easy.

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